updated 12:35 pm EDT, Tue June 10, 2008

HP, Dell control notebooks

HP continues to dominate in the realm of notebook sales, writes the NPD Group. In its latest quarterly report, the research firm notes that HP shipped nearly 6.5 million notebooks around the world, giving it a marketshare of 20.8 percent. Dell by contrast managed to recapture second place from Acer, but with a share of just 15.1 percent, and shipments just under 4.7 million. Acer slipped to third place with control of 14.6 percent and over 4.5 million notebooks.

Notable shifts in the rest of the list include VAIO-maker Sony, which has continued to lose ground rapidly since the third quarter of 2007, slipping from sixth place to ninth with only 4.2 percent of the market, 1.3 million units, and a 3 percent growth year-over-year. By contrast, Apple finally rose out of its year-long eighth-place position to number seven, with 4.6 percent of the market and over 1.4 million shipments. This is a 61 percent growth year-over-year, a figure beaten only by Eee PC creator ASUS, which managed a 67 percent rise to take Apple's former place.